"Females from the neighboring group whose territory has been annexed might move into the Ngogo community," added Mitani, explaining that female chimps generally leave the groups they were born into when they reach puberty. In addition, researchers suspect that there may be a second benefit for the encroaching chimp group. The Ngogo chimps have already begun feasting on Morus mesozygia, a valuable fruit tree found in the newly acquired territory, Mitani noted. The 2.5-square-mile (6.4-square-kilometer) summer land grab suggests the ongoing violence amounts to a turf war for access to food. "The surprising thing about last summer, though, was how much new land they took over," he said. The Ngogo chimps have added bits and pieces to their 11-square-mile (29-square-kilometer) territory over the years, Mitani said. (Read "Chimps Use 'Spears' to Hunt Mammals, Study Says.") "Victims are usually totally immobilized and don't really stand a chance of getting away," he added. I think the victims die from internal injuries. "Multiple chimps pummel the victims with both. "Just fists and feet" were used in the attacks, study leader John Mitani, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in an email from Uganda. The chimp gangs killed 21 of their neighbors between 19. Researchers observed predominantly male patrol groups sent out by a 150-strong chimp group at Ngogo in Kibale National Park in Uganda. While scientists have long known that chimps will kill each other on occasion, the finding shores up a long-held hypothesis that humans' closest living relatives sometimes turn to violence to annex valuable parcels of land. Some gangs of chimpanzees beat their neighbors to death in bids to expand their turf, according to a new study.
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